Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present OverClocked ReMix's 13th Official Album, Summoning of Spirits! Featuring music from both Tales of Phantasia AND Tales of Symphonia (along with some bonus cuts from Dawn of the New World), this four-disc album features over five hours of music from 40+ artists. The original project thread was posted in our forums back in May of 2005, so it's taken almost four years, but Co-directors Kyle and Kureejii stood their ground that it'd be released when everything was READY, and they beat Duke Nukem Forever to the punch, so it's all good. Lea was also artist for the project, and composed some very lovely, intricate Celtic/elfin designs that really give the whole package an amazing feel. OA chipped in and designed the excellent website, where you can grab the torrent, read artist bios, and also grab 25 (!!) bonus tracks that aren't in the main torrent distribution. As for me, well, I did actually contribute a track, technically making this (not Voices) the first album project I worked on, but it was released well in advance back in August of '06. Bottom line is, a lot of people worked very hard for a very long time to bring you SoS, and it shows in every way.

This was a massive effort, requiring true grit, determination, and persistence from its directors. Kyle writes:

"Finally! Summoning of Spirits, after nearly four years in production, is unleashed upon the world. It has been an amazing ride to be sure, watching the album come together, seeing a small community born out of those who have been involved with SoS. So many musicians brought their talents to the table to pay tribute to the wonderful Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia soundtracks, not only supporting the project and growing it beyond its initial scope, but also coming together for collaborative efforts, or providing feedback. This project really was a group effort.

Bringing together the largest OC ReMix project ever wasn't an easy task, but I'm happy to say that I have been a part of it all. A very special thanks to the remixers that contributed and made this an awesome project!"

Lea writes:

"Well, it took forever, and the project grew far beyond its original concept, but Summoning of Spirits is finally here... and it was definitely worth the wait! Covering not one but two games while trying to do both soundtracks justice was a big task, so I'd like to thank everyone involved not only for their patience but immense effort. I truly think this project's strength comes from the people who participated in its creation; not only did they offer tons of feedback over the course of development, but, as can be seen by the high number of collaborative tracks, they also offered their individual abilities and skills to each other to get amazing results. All this wonderful talent came together to offer over fifty tracks in a huge range of styles, so I like to think we have something for everyone to enjoy, even if you're not too familiar with the games themselves."

Awesome, inspiring work from both of them. On with the music! First up we've got Sixto and Dhsu with an awesome take on 'Fighting of the Spirit'; this is actually less of a direct collab and more about Juan picking up where Dhsu left off. Mr. Medrano writes:

"This is a track for the Summoning of Spirits remix project. I was never supposed to remix this track but a few days ago, KyleJCrb basically came to me and said "Help me, Obi-Juan, you're my only hope!" So I obliged. I grabbed a MIDI file of a piano intro that Dhsu had come up with before for a collab with someone else on the same track and I thought about using it. Tossed it in front of what I had so far and it sounded pretty good, so I kept it. The song was pretty much finished in two days but I spent another couple of days after that obsessing over the drum samples. I switched pieces out over and over until I came up with something I was finally satisfied with. Hope you dig this track."

"Obi-Juan"... nice. Why didn't I think of that? The piano intro fits like a glove and doesn't feel bookended at all, which would have been the obvious risk in using existing material, so Dhsu's contribution is meaningful, substantive, and makes sense. The rest of the piece is classic Sixto, which is a thinly-veiled euphemism for "kickass" - epic lead guitar, rockin' drums, well-blended synths (love that solo at 4'01"!), and crunchy, crisp, & satisfying production. Juan's truly a natural, whether lending his Midas touch to pre-existing ideas OR coming up with his own from scratch, he's a force of nature.

What's scary is that, as epic as this album debut track is, it's the tip of the iceberg: Sixto himself's got more tracks on SoS, and there are plenty of other artists that lent their talents to similarly amazing music, across four discs. I'm extremely proud of this community for putting this album together - Kyle and Lea deserve special praise for keeping the ball rolling ever forward this whole time, but it was truly a community effort, and represents well the myriad voices & talents that we're lucky enough to have contributing to this site. Like many others, I've been waiting for this day anxiously for quite awhile, and when so much time elapses, it's hard for ANY effort to live up to the hype and accumulated anticipation. Summoning of Spirits delivers on all levels; I'll be listening to these tracks and returning to this album for the rest of my life, and its release represents another milestone for OverClocked ReMix. Much as project directors pour their hearts & souls into albums like SoS, I give OCR everything I've got, and on a personal note, it's moments like these that make it all worthwhile, and then some.

So, on with the show. We'll be posting more badass music, of course, but you can (and should) just head over to http://tales.ocremix.org and check out the whole enchilada. It's a very delicious enchilada. Please tell your friends, your neighbors, random people you friended on Facebook/MySpace without really checking to see if you knew who they were, etc. about the album, and please help us seed the torrent. I know we've been slow with our posting schedule lately, everyone's been busy, and the site's been sorta quiet. Well... it's time to wake up.

Discussion

While not my favorite remix on the site, I think this is by far
Sixto's best work. While I enjoy all of his music this track has
such a strong emotional part to it that really sets it apart. The
synth adds an elegance to the track that isn't quite present in
his guitar only works. The key change is beautifully subtle; it
took me months of listening to even realize it was there! The
drum work is awesome and the rhythm guitars pull you in and hold
you down while the lead guitars attack you without mercy. The
piano intro from dhsu is perfect and really helps set the mood
that is carried throughout the song. I want to cry from sheer
sorrow and run around with a sword in a blind rage at the same
time when I listen to this. When I have the chance to pick up
guitar playing again I really want to learn to play those
scathing leads.

This was so long ago, but it still remains my all-time favorite
ocremix. Everything is mixed such that the emotional feel is
insane. 2:35, 3:20, 4:24, and 4:35 get me every time. I always
get a tear-jerking, spine-tingling sensation. That almost never
happens. Although able to be challenged, this remix is
irreplaceable.

I have only one complaint about this song. Before his big solo,
there's a part he takes from the source which has some backing
awesomeness to it. It's absent in this mix.

Other than that, a rockin' cover of the source that, as intended
I'm sure, provides a nice counterpoint to Rexy's take on the same
source (the two work as bookends on the album too). It's very
well done. The intro by Dhsu is beautiful, and paves the way for
Sixto to rock out.

This song literally made me start working on remixes for OCR.
I'll never forget the day... I had just discovered OCR through a
mislabeled SF2 Ken video, and I listened to tracks all night from
some of my fav games...I wasn't quite sold. At 4:30 in the
morning I was passing out at my desk as I clicked on this track.
I heard the piano, and I started to fade... then something came
at 0:37. It was Sixto with 12 demons surrounding him, all playing
the same embracing riff. I fell, defeated by Sixto and and his
legion of darkness, but have since risen with a new goal of
facing him on the epic battlefield till one of us lies defeated.

Well, at least that's kind of how I remember it. True story on
hearing his track while basically passed out. It's still my ring
tone to this day.

Haha, I feel bad getting a co-credit for contributing barely
10% of the remix. Glad ya'll are liking it though! Sixto did a
rockawesome job (and in TWO DAYS).

Be sure to check out the WIP of my collab with SnappleMan in
the bonus tracks, and then make fun of
him for being a lazy son of a gun.

The brain may only weigh 3 pounds, but without it an entire human
body could not function! In other words, the remix would not have
had the same life that it does without your contribution to it,
Dhsu.

I simply LOVE a crossing of instruments and styles. The piano
really set me up to be amazed when the guitar came crashing into
the scene. As for the guitar part of it, well, let's just say
AWESOME and keep on listening!

Nice rubato-heavy piano intro that builds just a little and
quickly but effectively transitions into guitars. Great
production on the lead and rhythm tones, and the drums have a
great sound as well. The rhythm playing is the star here, precise
and crisp, though i'd prefer to hear more lead guitar tone rather
than the synth. The trading of leads is fine to keep things mixed
up, but if I had Sixto's lead tone, i'd probably never touch a
synth again.

As amazing as the instrumentation is, I seem to end up focusing
on listening to the drums a lot of the time in this. Some nice
synth usage here as well, and I think the guitar speaks for
itself. I mean, it's Sixto at his... usual, maybe? or best?

Both.

The piano intro isn't to be overlooked. What would this track
be without the piano setting the tone and emotion before the
guitar comes in? It'd be awesome, but not quite pwnsome. And
pwnsome isn't a word I use lightly. This track is pwnsome.

This track was actually pretty much completely arranged by the
time I sent Sixto the piano bit to see if he wanted to use it, so
I'd heard it without the piano. You're right, it was awesome, but
the intro just made it even better.

As amazing as the instrumentation is, I seem to end up focusing
on listening to the drums a lot of the time in this. Some nice
synth usage here as well, and I think the guitar speaks for
itself. I mean, it's Sixto at his... usual, maybe? or best?

The piano intro isn't to be overlooked. What would this track be
without the piano setting the tone and emotion before the guitar
comes in? It'd be awesome, but not quite pwnsome. And pwnsome
isn't a word I use lightly. This track is pwnsome.

Help us save bandwidth - using our torrents saves us bandwidth and lets you download
multiple mixes as a single download. Use the tracker below and scroll for more information, or visit http://bt.ocremix.org directly, and please don't forget to
help us seed!!

OverClocked ReMix is a project of Game Music Initiative,
a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization. All compositions, arrangements, images, and trademarks are copyright their
respective owners. Original content is copyright Game Music Initiative, Inc. For information on RSS and
JavaScript news feeds, linking to us, etc. please refer to resources for webmasters. Please refer to the Info section of the site
and the FAQ available there for information about the
site's history, features, and policies.